Building-Income

There is everyday risk like driving to and from work, school, or some event with our spouse. At any moment, we put ourselves on the road with other people who may or may not be in full control of themselves whether it be from alcohol, lack of sleep, or relationship induced stress. Some of these people are just plain morons who should not be allowed to drive - but they're given a license anyway and we willingly chose to get on the road with them.

A collision could cost us financially from as little as a few hundred dollars to fix a ding to hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. However, we’ve learned to accept and manage this daily risk as we go about our lives.

There’s also the health risk we must accept just being part of the human experience. Genetic health issues may cause elevated concerns throughout our life or they may show up in later years. Poor food choices or bad exercise habits may not elevate our risk immediately, but sustained patterns will eventually result in some sort of health concern. This is risk we either accept or ignore, but it’s there nonetheless.

Yet, even the riskiest adventurers as well as the experts in covert operations have learned to mitigate their risks. They don’t jump out of planes without parachutes and they practice repeatedly so that an actual event becomes second nature.

We can’t escape risk so, therefore, we all must learn to deal with it.

Becoming wealthy is not something that happens overnight. Sure, some people win the lottery or have a windfall of money from an unexpected inheritance, but you should not be holding your breath for something like that to happen to you.

Instead, to build real wealth, you need to think long-term. Rather than living lavishly, it’s important to adopt a lifestyle of disciplined saving and investing. These simple actions can help almost anybody grow a massive nest egg over time.

I stood at the hotel room door, shortly after 5:30 a.m., with a hot coffee in my left hand and my cell phone and a banana in my right hand.

This obviously wasn’t my normal routine and it had been further thrown off by the lack of coffee. There should be coffee makers in every hotel room, but this was Las Vegas and if you stay in one of the casinos, they want to do everything they can to force you down onto the casino floor. Hence, no coffee makers.

I’d arrived in Vegas the morning before after attending Rock on the Range, a three-day rock festival in Columbus, Ohio. I was now in Sin City for the annual ICSC real estate convention that’s connected to my livelihood.

I’m afforded a position where I work daily with a wealthy clientele. Most of this group came to their affluence through hard work and creativity. In other words, it wasn’t generational, gifted upon them by a relative after their passing. These men and women had to get up every morning to earn their piece of the pie. The majority of them are baby boomers and Gen Xers. However, some of my clients are now millennials who have out-hustled others and created their wealth early in life. I consider myself lucky to work with these clients because I’m able to learn by their example.

I have many customers who have tattoos, but they don’t fall into the wealthy category. This group is often just starting out or have been working for years, still struggling to make it to the next level, often held back due to the decisions they made in their lives.

In paying attention to the two groups, it’s the wealthy clients and their lack of tattoos that recently caught my attention.

When I purchased my first commercial building, I was a property manager. Therefore, it was natural for me to accept the same role for our investing group. It dove-tailed nicely into my day-to-day routine. I could field calls throughout the day for my own property as well as from the portfolio I managed. Everything rolled together well. It was a comfortable fit.

I didn’t know it was called a side hustle then, but I was creating a new stream of income (albeit small) and having fun while doing it.

Fast forward eight years and I’ve found myself in an uncomfortable situation. I’ve grown my portfolio to fifteen properties with more on the way. I’m now overwhelmed by the level of work I’ve created with the management duties. The income created from this side hustle is nice, but it’s nowhere near the level I earn as a commercial real estate broker. It’s not even an amount that I could subside on if I decided to solely do my side hustle.

Therefore, I was faced with a choice – continue to drown or seek immediate help.

Until recently I’ve had a dog, even a couple dogs at a time. I’ve had them since I was a little boy. They’ve been there to catch tennis balls and run through various neighborhoods. Dogs have listened to my stories of success as well as tales of woe. Moments of crazy happiness have been had with them as well as calm reflection.

Growing up, I would often say I liked dogs more than people and that probably still holds true today. I look around the world and see it full of ding-dongs who are making the world a lot less friendly for the next generation.

I miss having a dog around as I haven’t had one with me for almost eight years now.

Like, I said I want a dog, it’s just that I don’t need one and that’s where I’m struggling.

I started the podcast not knowing what to expect. I’d never heard of Corley nor his book. This would later surprise me, because I thought of myself as a tuned-in reader, especially when it comes to personal finance books. I know I haven’t read all of them related to the subject, but I think I’m at least aware of them. Obviously, not.

The podcast blew me away.

Chris Peach interviewed Corley the way I would interview Sammy Hagar - with straight-up fanboy excitement. The interview was fun and informative and when it was over, I immediately bought the book.

My Latest Book!

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